Browsing by Author "Balgopal, Meena, committee member"
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Item Open Access A guiding model for decolonizing environmental science research and restoring relational accountability with Indigenous communities(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) David-Chavez, Dominique M., author; Gavin, Michael C., advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Cajete, Gregory, committee member; Galvin, Kathleen, committee member; Valdez, Shelly, committee memberIn this body of work, I examine the process and methodologies applied in scientific research by, on, and with Indigenous communities with an emphasis on diverse ways of knowing in environmental sciences, natural resources, and climate research. Effectively addressing complex social-ecological issues faced within our current and future generations, such as extreme climate variability and environmental justice, will require all relevant sources of knowledge and data, including those held by historically marginalized communities who remain close to the land. Indigenous knowledge systems, informed through generations of careful observation of dynamics of environmental changes are recognized as critical resources for understanding and addressing social-ecological concerns, yet many institutions and researchers have yet to directly address colonial-rooted legacies, including centuries of oppression, ethical violations, and lack of accountability towards the communities who maintain these knowledge systems. My dissertation research draws from theoretical developments in Indigenous methodologies, community-based participatory research, participatory action research, and constructivist grounded theory to enhance our contextual understanding regarding factors inhibiting or supporting diverse knowledge exchange in the sciences. Conceptual contributions include an evidence-based, practitioner-informed analytical framework that can be applied for guiding and evaluating responsible Indigenous community engagement across a wide range of research fields. Using this framework, I provide data findings from the first global systematic review assessing Indigenous community engagement in climate research studies, improving understanding of how research design connects to broader social outcomes for Indigenous communities. In this work I also provide conceptual contributions in the form of a working model for decolonizing community-based science research with Indigenous communities through a cross-disciplinary synthesis of codes of ethics, principles and methodologies for supporting Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in research. My dissertation explores this model through the values of integrity, respect, humility, and reciprocity to shape intentional commitments and actionable methods that can be applied to raise ethical standards and long-term relational accountability within Indigenous lands and communities Empirical contributions within my dissertation include a case study field-testing and grounding the working model for decolonizing science research through an Indigenous community-based climate study led by youth and elders within two rural agricultural communities in the mountainous central region Borikén (Puerto Rico). This case study highlights innovative participatory methods, resources, and lessons learned to inform processes for aligning cultural and academic institutional protocols for research integrity. My dissertation also explores benefits, barriers, and resources for Indigenous scholars and practitioners engaging Indigenous knowledge systems in their work and research through an in-depth regional case study in the Caribbean. Findings from this research enhance our understanding of how colonial legacies manifest as unique and complex challenges and identifies sources of capacity-building for overcoming these challenges, centering underrepresented narratives from those community members directly impacted by colonial histories. Together, these contributions shape our understanding of how every stage of research process itself, beyond solely the outputs, serve a critical role in decolonizing research and how researchers and institutions can adapt this process towards raising ethical standards in research.Item Open Access Adam Gorb's Bohemian Revelry: a conductor's analysis and performance guide(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Kasper, Matthew, author; Phillips, Rebecca L., advisor; Grapes, K. Dawn, committee member; Kenney, Wes, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee memberAdam Gorb is a British composer whose works have been performed worldwide and received much critical acclaim. His ability to blend many musical styles and influences within individual pieces and the utilization of varied sound colors and textures has resulted in a distinct compositional voice among contemporary composers, specifically in the wind band genre. Gorb's composition Bohemian Revelry was composed in 2013 for the Bromley Youth Concert Band and has since been distinguished by the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) as a significant work. This thesis provides an in-depth study of Bohemian Revelry, further exploring the influences behind Gorb's compositional voice and his process for composing this work. Study of the unique characteristics of traditional Czech folk songs and dance styles reveal how Gorb assimilates them into his own compositional voice. The results of this analytic research culminate in a set of rehearsal considerations that can be utilized by other conductors and musicians in future performances of this piece. Interviews were conducted with the composer and conductor Timothy Reynish to provide additional insights and perspectives about Bohemian Revelry, Gorb's other compositions for winds, and his impact on wind band music. This document also provides updated biographical information about Gorb and works completed since 2011.Item Open Access Alan Hovhaness: a conductor's analysis featuring Symphony No. 4, op. 165 for Wind Orchestra and Symphony No. 17, op. 203 for Metal Orchestra(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Bowles, Michael P., author; Phillips, Rebecca, advisor; Grapes, K. Dawn, committee member; Kenny, Wes, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee memberStudying American composers and American music encourages the continued performance of our cultural music masters. Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) is seldom researched and is thus becoming an underperformed composer. He composed during the eclectic compositional era of the twentieth century and is best known for his orchestral works. His music for wind band is not well known by the music community at large. The purpose of this thesis is to provide conductors and performers with a guide to performing and understanding the wind band music of Alan Hovhaness. Part I includes a biographical sketch and summary of Hovhaness’s compositional style. Part II is a conductor’s analysis of two works for winds and percussion. The first is his most well known piece for band, Symphony No. 4 (1958), and the second is a lesser known chamber work Symphony No. 17 (1963). The conductor’s analysis consists of both a theoretical and rehearsal analysis for each work. The theoretical analysis is a survey of each work focusing on form, melody, harmony, texture, dynamics, rhythm, and meter. The rehearsal analysis is comprised of two major sections, first is the considerations for the conductor, and second is considerations for the ensemble. Both sections are designed to guide future performers in executing these two works.Item Open Access Experts vs. novices: a comparison of the quality and quantity of Bombus observations between citizen scientists and researchers in national parks(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Smith, Alia, author; Bowser, Gillian, advisor; Halliwell, Philip, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Newman, Gregory, committee memberCitizen science data is plentiful and diverse in its collection, storage, and subsequent application. Different platforms have unique methods of storing data and limitations in accessing the data contributed to the platform. This study explored the accessibility of citizen science data from several citizen science platforms and compared two different methods of collecting data from iNaturalist, a global citizen science platform for observing and identifying organisms. It focused on Bombus species observations made in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The study found that different platforms are not equal in the ability to access and utilize data. It also found that on iNaturalist one method of searching for data yielded 14% more results than the other. The separate and incomplete nature of accessible data across citizen science platforms and subjectivity of searching methods on iNaturalist are indicative of the difficulty in creating a complete dataset that is representative of the collective contributions of citizen scientists. The validity of citizen science research has been controversial in recent history. There is a general consensus, however, that citizen science must be verifiable to be trustworthy. iNaturalist is a crowdsourced citizen science platform that allows other users to corroborate or dispute species identifications that individuals post. This research seeks to determine whether there is a difference in the quantity and quality of Bombus observations in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks made by expert researchers and citizen scientists on iNaturalist. It found that the professional researchers, or experts, contributed 68% of the observations, but there was not a significant difference between the achievement rate of Research Grade observations between the experts and novices. This indicates that citizen scientists have the ability, through iNaturalist, to accurately make difficult taxonomic identifications.Item Open Access Exploring experiences of burnout, engagement, and social support networks: a qualitative study of hospital medicine physicians(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Robinson, Dea, author; Korte, Russell, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Han, Heeyoung, committee member; Maynard, Travis, committee memberStudies on burnout and engagement for US physicians have resulted in few changes to improve the lives of affected physicians who suffer from the negative effects of burnout that include negative effects to patient care. Research has suggested that physician social support networks can provide protections against burnout that theoretically would lead to a more engaged physician. This qualitative study was conducted to understand the nature of hospitalist experiences of burnout, engagement and social support networks for 15 hospital medicine physicians (i.e., hospitalists). Two sources of burnout related to hospitalist leaders and hospitalists (non-leader role) emerged: (a) lack of hiring authority, (b) lack of business support, and (c) disruptive peer behavior. Sources of burnout for hospitalists (non-leader) came from: (a) unrealistic expectations from a boss and (b) stress from the employment contracting process, and (c) enough time in the day to finish work. Sources of engagement came from: (a) time spent with patients during difficult diagnosis, (b) appreciation expressed from patients, and (c) meaningful connections with patients. Social support networks for hospitalists were represented by: (a) clinical support, (b) non-clinical support; and (c) leader support. Social support networks were influenced by the quality of relationships hospitalists had with their boss and degree of support received from their leaders. Implications from the study suggested burnout and engagement are separate constructs; engagement is defined differently by hospitalists and their leaders, and sources of stress that lead to burnout need to be identified to enact effective interventions.Item Open Access Influences on science education: the use of Supplemental Instruction on academic success in introductory sciences courses at a two year community college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Williams, T. S., author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Anderson, Sharon, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Klopfenstein, Ken, committee memberThis dissertation uses a mixed method design model to investigate the influences of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on student final grade outcomes in introductory science courses at the community college level. The literature states that student comprehension in the field of science is critical; however, educators are discovering that certain student demographics are falling behind in science comprehension. The research focuses on the issue of disparity among different demographics and analyzes whether the introduction of the academic intervention technique, Supplemental Instruction (SI), increases the academic success of students in introductory community college biology and chemistry courses. A series of Two Way ANOVA analyses revealed that the use of SI had a positive effect (i.e., increased final grade outcomes) on community college student demographics; however, in some sections, a negative final grade outcome was found. In this study, data indicate that SI supported biology classes had a greater effect (or positive direction) on Black Non-Hispanic overall final grades. However, White Non-Hispanic students enrolled in SI supported introductory biology courses showed a slight decrease (or negative direction) in marginal means (d = -0.180). Hispanic students enrolled in SI supported courses showed a very slight increase (or positive direction) in final grade outcomes (d = 0.11). Another analysis outlined in this study showed the impact of SI on student grades in introductory science courses and first-generation student status. The analysis indicates a positive direction between the use of SI in an introductory science course on overall student final grades and student first-generation status. The data indicate that with the use of SI in an introductory science course, student final grades in the first generation student population showed an effect size of d = 0.1897. These data indicate that SI supported science courses had a positive effect on First Generation student overall final grades. The research examined the impact of SI on the principle SI Student Leaders (SISL) and found that student participation in the program had positive influences on SISL discipline comprehension, engagement, overall course satisfaction.Item Open Access Multimodality across the curriculum(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Mangialetti, Tony, author; Palmquist, Mike, advisor; Amidon, Tim, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee memberThis thesis explored the connection between multimodality and writing across the curriculum (WAC) to learn what characteristics of multimodal activities, documents, and pedagogy could be used to increase the effectiveness of a WAC program. The thesis is based on a study during which 46 participants were surveyed and 16 of those participants were interviewed. Two leading WAC programs' websites were analyzed to determine the role multimodality played in each program. The surveys and interviews were analyzed using a grounded approach. The research supporting this study looked at WAC pedagogy—specifically writing to learn, writing engage, and writing in the disciplines—to learn what skills students are being asked to learn. Scholarship from WAC was also used to learn what WAC programs are currently doing with multimodality. From this research and study, seven principles were developed for WAC programs that seek to incorporate and implement multimodality.Item Open Access Science of food fermentation: development of a university curriculum and outreach educational materials(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Bauer, Laura M., author; Bunning, Marisa, advisor; Miller, Jeff, advisor; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee memberWhile food and beverage fermentation is rooted in thousands of years of global traditions, today it is experiencing a revitalization by consumers interested in the health benefits and organoleptic qualities. A research-based, learner-centered, introductory-level, undergraduate academic curriculum was developed to address the need for understanding biochemical processes related to fermented food and developing critical thinking skills. Course findings, supporting research, and demand from consumers and outreach educators, guided complementary outreach materials development on related fermentation topics. The curriculum for FTEC 210, Science of Food Fermentation, was designed, implemented, and evaluated for outcomes in Year 1 (n=15) and Year 2 (n=22). The course focused on science, history, culture, gastronomy, safety, health, and nutrition aspects of fermented foods and beverages, while addressing core food science competencies in food chemistry, microbiology, food processing, and applied food science. Curriculum development was designed around students’ initial knowledge level, and then gaps were addressed for deeper understanding. Learning events alternated between direct instruction and experiential learning to engage diverse undergraduate learners in problem solving and application and inspire cognitive growth through evaluation and creation. Student change in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors was assessed via pre-course and post-course questionnaires compared to a control group. Qualitative interviews, conducted mid-semester in Year 1, and course survey comments from Years 1 and 2, clarified quantitative data and provided feedback on curriculum usefulness and course satisfaction. Areas of analysis included demographics and grades, for reflection on student comprehension, content delivery, and assessments. Complementary teaching materials requested by and created for Extension educators and consumer use included an online training, a hands-on workshop, and related outreach publications. Students enrolled in FTEC 210 significantly increased knowledge from pre to post course (P<.0001), and their mean increase in knowledge was significant in comparison to the control group (P<.005). All students reported increased consumption of fermented food and drinks, and indicated active learning, in laboratory exercises, furthered opportunities for positive impacts on their education including self-studies and home practices. Curriculum content and informal hands-on student yogurt variation trials led to outreach publication development. Outreach trainings integrated experiential learning with research-based information to nurture retention and confidence. Requests from the public health community for the dissemination of credible fermentation information continues to guide fermentation outreach material development beyond the scope of this project. In this mixed methods study, results showed the curriculum had impact and relevance for cognitive development of university students and food knowledge application across disciplines, including integration of cultural diversity education and incorporation of biochemical processes. The use of experiential learning in course design enabled students to construct new knowledge through integrating base knowledge from lecture, collective interaction with lab partners, and hands-on learning practices in this course. This food fermentation curriculum met academic demands, increased student understanding and confidence, and supported material development for outreach dissemination.Item Open Access Social-psychological factors influencing community engagement in urban biodiversity conservation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Champine, Veronica Murielle, author; Niemiec, Rebecca, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Bruyere, Brett, committee member; Jones, Megan, committee member; Solomon, Jennifer, committee memberAs the human population grows and we continue to see rapid biodiversity loss, conserving natural resources in urbanized areas has become increasingly important. Motivating people to engage in pro-environmental behavior is one of the many strategies to address biodiversity. Strategic human action can help shape social norms and generate social movements that influence the social systems that intensify environmental degradation. This dissertation builds on the existing pro-environmental behavior literature and explores the motivators and barriers to different types of urban biodiversity conservation actions. These include personal-sphere behavior (i.e., participating in an action by oneself), social diffusion behavior (i.e., actions that disseminate information or behavior via social networks), and civic action behavior (i.e., citizenship actions to address a collective issue). In three articles, I use cross-sectional, experimental, and audience segmentation methods to compare the drivers of distinct behaviors, evaluate the impacts of theory-based outreach strategies, and identify target audiences for biodiversity conservation behaviors related to native plant gardening in the United States. Findings from this research can inform outreach strategies that promote greater community engagement in urban biodiversity conservation to support native wildlife and human wellbeing in urbanized areas.Item Open Access Supporting and empowering students in online pre-calculus(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Golden, Shannon Nicole, author; Hagman, Jess, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Hulpke, Alexander, committee memberThe Paced Algebra to Calculus electronically Program (PACe) offers pre-calculus through five 1-credit courses in a fully online and mastery-based setting. The mathematics department at Colorado State University realized that a significant population of students were not completing the first module in the sequence. To address this issue, we created an in-person, supplemental course for a targeted population of students to complete the first 1-credit pre-calculus course. Using data from the students' weekly metacognitive and mindful journaling, we use the emergent perspective as our theoretical lens and thematic analysis as our tool for data analysis to answer the following research question: how did participation in an in-person class and engagement with the PACe Program impact the students' mathematical affect and success in the course? In this paper, we will examine previous results in the literature, define our research methodology, analyze implications on teaching, share key results and findings, and discuss future research questions that could be answered with our data.Item Open Access The understanding of intentionality in children with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Hahn, Laura J., author; Most, David, advisor; Fidler, Deborah, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Lunkenheimer, Erika, committee memberThis dissertation examined the development of the understanding of intentionality in two different neurogenetic disorders, Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS). The study of intentionality focuses on how children come to understand the intentions of others. Meltzoff's (1995) behavioral reenactment paradigm is a nonverbal procedure wherein a child is presented with a series of objects. Prior to each presentation, the examiner either performs a successful action (e.g. the target action) or an unsuccessful action (e.g. the failed intentional action). A child's understanding of intentionality is assessed by their ability to interpret the experimenter's intention during failed attempt trials, and their subsequent completion of the task. This examination of intentionality was divided into two studies. Study 1 was designed to test Tager-Flusberg and Sullivan's (2000) hypothesis that there is a dissociation between social-perceptual abilities and social-cognitive abilities in individuals with Williams syndrome. In order to explore this dissociation, the behavioral reenactment procedure was administered with and without experimenter affective cues. Participants were 25 children with a confirmed diagnosis of WS. There were two groups of WS, one that received affective cues (N=13) and one that did not (N=12). Also, children with WS in the no affect group were compared to 12 mental-age matched children with developmental disabilities. The findings of this study indicates that the understanding of intentionality improves with developmental status in children with WS. Also, this study indicates that there may be a dissociation between social-perceptual and social-cognitive skills in this population during early social-emotional development. Specifically, it seems that the presence of emotional cues during intersubjective tasks leads to an emotional response instead of a response based on social cognition. Study 2 was motivated by past research suggesting that children with DS demonstrate deficits in some aspects of social cognition, even though many children with DS have strengths in other aspects of social-emotional functioning. Therefore, it is likely that the understanding of intentionality in children with Down syndrome may be influenced by other foundational cognitive abilities (i.e. joint attention and affect sharing in early childhood and executive functioning in middle childhood). Participants were 40 children with a confirmed diagnosis of Down syndrome, 16 young children with DS and 24 older children with DS. In addition, the 16 young children with DS were compared to 16 mental-age matched children with other developmental disabilities. The results of this study suggests that the understanding of intentionality improves with developmental status for young children with DS. This study also suggest that difficulties in joint attention and EF lead children with DS to miss the target relevant information during the behavioral reenactment procedure leading them to perform more "other actions". This dissertation is the first study to examine the development of intentionality in WS and DS. From these studies, it may be possible to begin to characterize how the understanding of intentionality develops in children with WS and DS. Characterizing social cognition in WS and DS will help to identify areas for targeted intervention to prevent the possible cascading effects of difficulties in social cognition on other aspects of development.Item Open Access Veterinary school instructor knowledge and use of study strategies(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Osborn, Rebecca M., author; Rhodes, Matthew, advisor; Cleary, Anne, committee member; Tompkins, Sara Anne, committee member; Balgopal, Meena, committee memberEmpirically supported study strategies have been investigated for years and there has been a growing body of research on what strategies undergraduate students know of and utilize while studying. However, there is less research on instructor knowledge and endorsement of study strategies as they can serve as a guide to students in how to study. Professional schools (e.g., medical, pharmacy, or veterinary schools) have little to no research evaluating what strategies instructors encourage to students while the population of students are meant to be lifelong learners. In the current study, instructors in veterinary medicine were surveyed on their knowledge and endorsement of study strategies including learning scenarios where participants rated strategy effectiveness. The endorsement of study strategies was also correlated with the ranking and acceptance rate of the veterinary school the instructor teaches at to determine if there is a relationship of empirically supported study strategies and the ranking of school quality. The survey found that instructors endorsed both beneficial and nonbeneficial study strategies and learning scenarios but were more likely to encourage empirically supported strategies to students. The ranking and acceptance rate of the school showed no correlation with more endorsement of those beneficial strategies. The results of this survey demonstrate veterinary instructors have a slight preference for empirically supported learning strategies but continue to hold some misconceptions on learning. Further research is needed to determine how best to reach and inform this instructor population, but veterinary instructors are highly motivated to learn more about how best to teach veterinary students.Item Open Access Where have all the pollinators gone? An analysis of the shifts in climate and phenology that have altered pollinator diversity in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Whipple, Sarah E., author; Bowser, Gillian, advisor; Balgopal, Meena, committee member; Halliwell, Philip, committee member; Fisher, Emily, committee memberPollinators are in peril, facing worldwide decline due to causes such as climate change, habitat fragmentation, phenological mismatches, urbanization, pesticide use, agricultural intensification, and more. In the age of these challenges, prioritizing suitable habitat for species conservation is essential. United States (US) National Parks, in addition to other protected areas nationally and worldwide, act as species refuges for all biodiversity, including pollinators, and more specifically, butterfly and bumble bee species. While data availability is minimal to answer broad questions of pollinator decline, virtual datasets, including citizen science platforms and digitized Natural History Collections (NHCs), provide robust species occurrence snapshots to the state of biodiversity in the parks. This dissertation assessed pollinators, plant-pollinator relationships, and species responses to climate change in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, two parks within the Rocky Mountain region of the US. In the first chapter, I provide a literature review and my research framework that guided the following studies. In the second chapter, I conducted a meta-analysis to determine what species responses were worldwide to climate change effects. An analysis of the limited bumble bee literature showed species range contractions as well as detrimental plant-phenological shifts occurring worldwide. Although there were more butterfly studies, there was the most agreement found in earlier species emergence patterns, range contractions, and species generalist population responses. In the third chapter, I analyzed digitized data within NHCs, citizen science platforms, and permit-reported data available for the parks from 1900-2021 to understand the systematic data gaps and taxonomic biases present within available datasets. I observed taxonomic biases and varying prominence within data repositories in both parks. However, the rate of available digitized records will continue to evolve and may shift these systematic gaps. In the fourth chapter, I evaluated the climate, phenology, and pollinator species occurrence relationships seen within the parks. I found that starting floral bloom dates and recent bloom anomalies have not shifted significantly, with an average earlier bloom date of three days observed across the parks. The correlations between phenological stages highlighted the negative effect of half-bloomed floral resources on pollinator occurrences in the subalpine and meadow areas of the park, and the positive effect of senesced floral resources on pollinator occurrences both habitat and park wide. Finally, the fifth chapter summarized with lessons learned, including species case studies, and suggestions for additional research efforts. These findings highlight the importance of continued monitoring of pollinator groups within the parks, particularly amongst groups with specialized plant-pollinator relationships, range restrictions, and sensitive generational production – all in which may be vulnerable in the age of a warming, drying western climate. Researchers can use these findings to inform land management and species conservation strategies, to prioritize useable and robust datasets of varying digitized availability for biodiversity questions, and to understand the baseline of pollinator data observed within two protected areas that have experienced minimized effects of other land-use pressures.